We need a break: And we’re getting one, dear readers, as we approach the end of this busy workweek and another well-earned weekend – for some, a three-day blow.
But not for most: Monday is Columbus Day (or Indigenous Peoples Day, depending), which is a “second-tier” federal holiday – meaning schools and post offices are closed but something like 86 percent of national businesses are open. Sorry.
Marvels: Not every hero wears a cape.
We need a hero: It’s still Friday – Oct. 8, to be precise – and we’re still wrapping up the week, in style.
For instance, it’s National Hero Day – an important reminder, in an era of delusional demagogues and sniveling sycophants, that the people we should admire most are all around us: the brave cop, the patriotic veteran, the selfless social worker, the generous philanthropist.
We need a sandwich: And nothing says “style” quite like National Fluffernutter Day, an homage to bread, peanut butter and marshmallow fluff also celebrated on Oct. 8.
Skipping ahead: Speaking of fluff, the Erie Canal wouldn’t actually be completed for two more years – but the waterway linking Lake Erie and the Atlantic Ocean was officially inaugurated by New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton on this date in 1823.
Hair raising: Also making waves was German inventor Karl Ludwig Nessler, who presented his new apparatus for producing permanent waves – involving sodium hydroxide and temperatures upwards of 100 degrees Celsius – in his London hair salon on Oct. 8, 1906.
Breakout performance: Oliver Hardy (left) and Stan Laurel team up for the first time.
The first fine mess: Before they got into “another fine mess,” Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made their first on-screen appearance in “The Second Hundred Years,” a silent film released on this date in 1927.
In another historically hysterical first, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s classic weekly radio show debuted on Oct. 8, 1942.
Make popcorn, not war: Less humorous is defense contractor The Raytheon Co., the legendary weapons-maker that briefly flashed a peace sign – and revolutionized the kitchen – when it patented the microwave oven 76 years ago today.
Pace your bets: And as serious as a heart attack was the first internal pacemaker, implanted on Oct. 8, 1958, by Swedish cardiac surgeon Åke Sennin.
About the size of a hockey puck, that groundbreaking unit worked for only three hours and was replaced the next day – with 22 upgrades to follow, keeping patient Arne Larsson ticking for a remarkable 43 years.
Behind the numbers: Japanese businessman and puzzle-maker Maki Kaji (1951-2021) – remembered as “the godfather of Sudoku” (which was originally called “Suji-wa-Dokushin-ni-Kagiru,” which translates to “Numbers Should Be Single, a Bachelor”) – would be 70 years old today.
Jackson: Man of action.
Also born on Oct. 8 were American biochemist Harry Day (1906-2007), who put fluoride in toothpaste; American aerospace engineer Robert Gilruth (1913-2000), who put the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts in space; Argentine biochemist César Milstein (1927-2002), who shared a Nobel Prize for decrypting monoclonal antibodies; Baptist minister Jesse Jackson (born 1941), among America’s most influential civil-rights activists; and American novelist, screenwriter and television producer Robert Lawrence “R.L.” Stine, who gives us “Goosebumps.”
Dream Weaver: And take a bow, Susan Alexandra “Sigourney” Weaver! The ghost- and alien-busting American actress – the prototype for science-fiction action heroines (and pretty darn good in less-campy roles, too) – turns 72 today.
Give the one-and-only Ripley your best at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips and calendar events cause our chests to swell … and then tremble and finally burst open with screeching, blood-curdling excitement.
About our sponsor: Bridgeworks is Long Island’s modern coworking and office space. Headquartered in Long Beach, our workspace offers flexible month-to-month private offices, meeting rooms and innovative amenities for companies of all types. Membership includes onsite management, high-speed Internet access, mail services, full café, onsite parking and easy access to the Long Island Rail Road. Members also gain early access to the Airbnb for commercial real-estate, DropDesk.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Google doc: Long Island’s No. 1 pen pal keeps letting his word processor do the talking.
Long Island Association President Matt Cohen has fired off a new missive to Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai and Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat, congratulating the multinational tech giant on its plans to purchase the St. John’s Terminal in New York City and urging the execs to “consider a hub-and-spoke model with campuses in the greatest suburb in the world, Long Island.” The LIA president, who assumed the office this spring, touted tons of available commercial space and the Island’s “unique assets” – including an “innovative workforce” and “strong technology clusters” focused on artificial intelligence, quantum computing and more – and even offered to lead a regional tour for Google administrators.
The Sept. 23 letter is the latest penned pitch dispatched by Cohen, who’s already written to billionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson (plugging Long Island as a space-tourism hub); U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY 10), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (blasting proposed federal antitrust laws); and the Island business community at large (urging owners and employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine). “As you assess the future of your workforce … extending one of your spokes to Long Island could be a game-changer,” Cohen told Google.
Going up: Much-needed upgrades to Rockville Centre’s Mill River Residences are coming soon.
Like a Rockville: A new tax-incentives package approved by the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency will help a local developer complete much-needed renovations to an existing Rockville Centre affordable-housing complex.
The package – including tax-exempt bond financing and a five-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes extension – will trigger a $53.3 million investment by developer Rockville Mill River L.P., which will renovate 175 rental units on Maine Avenue and Meehan Lane, creating 34 construction jobs and five full-time-equivalent positions along the way. The project focuses on a fully occupied, 138,550-square-foot facility packing 95 affordable-housing units for seniors and 80 more for families, with reconstructed roofing, upgraded plumbing, enhanced lighting, new appliances and other significant improvements on tap for residents earning below 60 percent of the Area Median Income.
The PILOT exemptions will save Rockville Mill River $3.2 million in property, sales/use and mortgage-recording taxes over five years – a small price to pay for a project that will generate a projected $42 million in regional economic benefits, according to Nassau County IDA Chief Executive Officer Harry Coghlan. “The importance of adding and improving upon our existing rental housing stock cannot be overstated,” the CEO said. “Due to our involvement, these existing residents can benefit from the investment into their housing without the increase in rents you would expect.”
TOP OF THE SITE
E does it: Long Island’s top tourism organization has introduced a new e-commerce platform designed to help regional mom-and-pop retailers survive the pandemic pinch.
Shelling out: The DEC’s new $26 million Marine Resources headquarters in Suffolk County is good news for marine industries on Long Island and beyond.
Stellar ’casts: Featuring an amazing lineup of special guests, Season 1 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast set a high bar for engaging and informative discourse; before Season 2 debuts this month, catch up on everything you’ve missed.
ICYMI
A Long Beach startup promises same-day deliveries from Long Island mom-and-pops; Northwell Health employees assess self-administered tests for COVID-19.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From California: Santa Clara-based exercise innovator Interactive Fitness Holdings rolls out adventurous smart bike that spins riders through virtual worlds.
From Illinois: Chicago-based Naperville North High School students invent machine learning-powered speech analyzer to detect depression cases.
From California: San Francisco-based sustainable waste and transportation trendsetter Compology helps the City of Miami track its trash.
ON THE MOVE
Judy Simoncic
+ Judy Simoncic has been appointed chairwoman of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Municipal Law and Land Use Committee. She is a partner at Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana.
+ Shameika Hanson has been elected to the American Society of Adaptation Professionals’ Board of Directors. She is a community protection specialist at the Nature Conservancy in New York.
+ Karen Albert has been appointed director of the Hofstra University Museum of Art.
+ Michael Brescia has joined Setauket-based Branch Financial Services as a financial advisor. He is the founding partner of Setauket-based Michael J. Brescia P.C.
+ Jared Kasschau has been elected to the Garden City-based Family and Children’s Association’s Board of Trustees. He serves as partner at Uniondale-based Harris Beach.
+ David Eagle has joined New York Cancer and Blood Specialists. An oncologist who will be practicing in Patchogue, Eagle will serve as the practice’s chairman of legislative affairs and patient advocacy.
BELOW THE FOLD
Ups and downs: How to ride the stock market’s rapids.
Buy: To succeed at work, do you have to “buy in” to the corporate culture?
Sell: Inside the $1 billion sale of Twitter’s lucrative mobile ad unit.
Buy or sell? How to handle a stock market correction.
Dealmaker: The pandemic has left commercial real estate in flux, and flexible coworking deals may be the best solution. Bridgeworks, one of the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, knows all about it. Check them out.
